Have the DoD’s special hiring practices hurt more than helped? May 6 The union representing many Department of Defense employees argues that special hiring authorities are the reason the agency struggles to fill out its workforce. (pepifoto) The Department of Defense has dozens of civilian hiring authorities at its disposal, some unique only to that agency, in order to bring on the best and most flexible talent in service of the nation’s defense. But according to the union that represents approximately 300,000 employees at the agency, it is those very hiring authorities that have caused the DoD to struggle in finding and keeping enough talent in key areas like STEM, acquisition, financial management, cyber, artificial intelligence and foreign language skills.